Sui Yangdi: Built Grand Canal connecting Huang He (Yellow) & Chang Jiang (Yangtze) Rivers. Used forced labor to build the canal. Cruel Ruler = rebellion = murdered!
Restored Civil Service Exam – Student understanding of Confucius principles. Taught not to use hands except to paint & write. Tang Xuanzang: Devotion to a commoner’s daughter; dancers & musicians to entertain her. Delivered fresh fruit to her. This = bloody revolt = someone accountable = invitation to hang herself from a tree!
Economic Prosperity & Cultural achievement! Taken over by Mongols
Growth of Manufacturing & Trade, still a farming society. Tang created steel & gunpowder. Growth of Silk Road
Marco Polo; Hangzhou (capital city) “that one finds himself in paradise” Scholar-gentry: replaced the old landed aristocracy, political & economic elite. Woman; Dowry to groom. Poor families may sell daughter to wealthy family.